


Nightmares

by coolestkat01



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Fluff, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), F/M, Percy Jackson References, Post-Tartarus (Percy Jackson)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolestkat01/pseuds/coolestkat01
Summary: Falling into Tartarus took a toll on both Percy and Annabeth. Already awful nightmares became worse, and only got better when they were together.3 chapters! 1 a few days after escaping, 1 back at camp, and 1 when visiting home!!Just a lot of Percabeth fluff :)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Kudos: 84





	1. The Argo II

After returning to the Argo II, Annabeth and Percy had been sent straight to the sickbay. They were pale, bloody, and extremely sick from their "adventure" down in Tartarus. They stayed there for nearly a week, slowly recovering from their injuries.

"Are you sure you don't want to spend another night down in the sickbay? It may be safer." Piper said, nervously.

"All I want is a good night's sleep in a real bed." Percy said, Annabeth nodding in agreement.

"We're fine." Annabeth added, trying her best to assure their friends.

None of their friends bought it, but it was clear Annabeth and Percy were determined to move on from Tartarus. The two of them said goodnight to everyone and walked to their seperate rooms on opposite ends of the ship.

"I'm worried about them." Piper said, once both Annabeth and Percy disappeared behind their doors.

"I am too. But they're determined, so we won't have a chance of stopping them." Jason said.

"Plus, they'll think we're babying them. I don't know Percy too well, but I know Annabeth won't appreciate that." Leo added.

It was getting late, and everyone was feeling wiped out, so they unanimously decided it was time to turn in as well. Hazel and Frank were on night watch, so they left for the top deck while Leo, Piper, and Jason all went to their rooms.

The boys got about a half hour of rest before they were startled awake by blood curdling screams. Jason and Leo ran out of their cabins, knocking into each other. Jason had out his sword, Leo was holding a hammer.

"A hammer, really?" Jason asked.

"I was startled, this was the first thing I thought of! Plus hammers can do some serious damage." Leo said, defensively, although he tucked it back into his toolbelt.

There was another scream. Both boys got to their senses, and followed the noise, which was coming from Percy's room. Jason opened the door, cautiously walking into the room. Leo walked in behind him. Percy had his eyes shut tightly, his face contorted into a look of pure terror, with a few noticeable tear tracks streaking down. He was thrashing around, kicking his legs so hard that his blanket had fallen off the bed and landed on the other side of the room. Percy was muttering to himself, occasionally omitting a scream. The sight of him made both Leo and Jason's hearts sink.

"I'm right here!" Percy cried out. "ANNABETH!"

He started kicking harder.

"Percy." Jason said, loudly.

Percy didn't hear, his eyes stayed close. Percy let out a sob, but stopped kicking. He didn't wake up though.

Leo started to make his way closer to Percy.

"Leo, be careful. We don't want to startle him." Jason said.

Leo nodded and slowly lowered his hand to Percy's shoulder. His plan was to shake him awake, but Percy started kicking again, sending Leo across the room.

"Are you ok!" Jason said.

"Fine, perfectly fine." Leo wheased, getting up off the ground.

"No no no." Percy muttered to himself.

He let out another scream, his face slowly become paler and paler.

"We need to wake him up." Leo said. "Now."

"Go get Annabeth! She'll know what to do." Jason said.

Leo didn't need to be asked twice. He sprinted from the room, and down the hall. He passed Piper's room, then Hazels, before swinging open Annabeth's door. She was asleep, her covers pulled up so high that it nearly covered her face. She was whimpering in terror.

"Annabeth! Wake up!" Leo said, shaking her.

Annabeth's eyes flew open. She grasped Leo's arm, and flipped him so that he was laying on the floor once again.

"Leo! You can't scare me like that!" Annabeth said, breathing heavily.

"Sorry." Leo said.

She offered him her hand to help him up.

"You honestly should stop flipping everyone. It's impressive but-" Leo started to say.

"What do you need Leo?" Annabeth interrupted him.

"Percy, he-" Leo said.

Leo didn't even have to finish. Annabeth sprinted out of her room, down the hall. She pushed past Jason and started to make her way to her boyfriend.

"Annabeth, be careful. We tried to wake him up, he doesn't seem to hear us and when we get close he starts kicking again." Jason warned her.

Annabeth ignored his warning and gently put her hand on Percy's face. He tensed at first, but soon seemed to recognise her touch.

"We're ok. We got out. We're alive." Annabeth whispered to him. "Open your eyes, Percy."

Leo and Jason stood in the doorway, watching Annabeth slowly coax him into opening his eyes. The two of them were unsure of what to do, but leaving didn't seem like the best option.

Percy finally woke up. His eyes flew open, and he gasped for breath. He only noticed Annabeth watching him, he didn't seem to see Jason or Leo. He sat up and pulled her to him, hugging her tightly.

"You're alive." He said, breathlessly.

"I am. And so are you." Annabeth said.

"It was awful." Percy said, his voice breaking. "It was like I was back, and it was worse. I didn't think it was possible for it to be worse."

"Tell me about it?" Annabeth asked, pushing back his hair from his forehead.

"We were fighting the Arai. I was bleeding, you were blind. Then you got the curse that made you think I abandoned you. I figured it was a memory, everything seemed the same. So I started killing more Arai, just like I did." Percy said. He was still breathing heavily, as if he'd spent the entire time asleep holding his breath. "But it was different. Instead of cursing me, they all cursed you. They all said the same thing, the best way to hurt me was to hurt you. And there was no one their to save you, no Bob."

Percy held Annabeth tighter.

"I was the reason you died." Percy said, his voice shaking.

"You're the reason I'm alive." Annabeth corrected. "I wouldn't have made it out without you. I wouldn't have even survived the fall."

"I had to watch you suffer and die over and over again in my stupid dream." Percy said.

He had tears running down his face now.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere. Not for a long time, at least." Annabeth said, wiping them away. "You're going to have to put up with me a lot longer Seaweed Brain."

Percy let out a soft chuckle, looked up and caught her lips with his. When he pulled away, Percy's breathing was starting to even out. He looked around the room, and saw Jason and Leo staring at them. Percy quickly wiped his face, trying to get rid of all signs of crying, and shot Annabeth a look that said _could've mentioned we had company_.

"Hi guys." Percy said, slowly. "Beautiful evening, isn't it?"

Leo and Jason gave him weak smiles.

"Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry if I did." Percy said, looking at the floor. "I'll get this under control, it won't happen again."

"Percy man, really, we don't care. We just care that you're alright." Leo said.

"Can we get you anything? Water maybe?" Jason asked.

"Water sounds good, thank you." Percy said, giving them a weak smile.

Jason and Leo left the two of them alone, and went to the kitchen. They took their time, wanting to give Annabeth and Percy some time of privacy. They got two glasses and filled them up. When they returned to Percy's room, he was asleep again, Annabeth along with him. He was holding Annabeth, and she was holding him. Both of their faces were relaxed, tranquill, at peace. Leo put both glasses of water down nearby, while Jason got the blanket and slung it over the two of them.

After that night, neither Annabeth or Percy slept without each other for the rest of the trip. The nightmares didn't stop. But they got much more bearable.


	2. Camp Half Blood

After Gaea was successfully defeated, Camp Half Blood had been packed. The Romans were staying, just until their injured were healed enough for the trip back to California. Leo had also returned, he rose from the dead apparently, and had also somehow freed Calypso. This meant that every cabin had been stuffed to the brim. Percy and Annabeth were lucky, this gave them an excuse to spend the night together without catching anyones attention. It's not that they were doing anything, it's just they couldn't sleep without each other. The constant knowledge that the other was safe kept most nightmares at bay.

However, the Romans eventually did get organized, and did start their journey home to Camp Jupiter. After a tearful goodbye with Frank, Hazel, and Reyna, the two demigods needed to talk. There were just a few weeks left of camp, which still meant many nights. 

Annabeth and Percy went down to the dock of the canoe lake, it was a special place for the two of them.

"I think we need to try." Annabeth said, slowly.

Percy nodded. He wasn’t thrilled at the idea of spending nights alone, but he knew she was right.

"If we can't get these nightmares under control, what's going to happen during the school year? It's not like you can sneak into my dorm, or I can sneak into your apartment." Annabeth said.

"I agree." Percy said. "It's just a few weeks. We can definitely do a few weeks."

The first week was torture for both of them. Percy spent the majority of the night awake, clutching Riptide, ready for the monsters from his nightmares to materialize in his cabin. Annabeth would toss and turn all night, usually ending up laying awake. The few times she did fall asleep, she always woke up terrified. Of course the two demigods pretended to be fine. Even though they promised to make a new plan if this one wasn't working, neither wanted to admit to themselves and each other that they couldn’t do it. So instead, they suffered at night and spent the day exhausted.

One night, Annabeth had finally fallen asleep for longer than a few minutes. At first, her nightmare was pretty low key, similar to the ones before Tartarus, nothing she couldn't handle. From there, it just escalated, becoming worse and worse until Annabeth woke up, shaking and biting back a scream. She probably would've screamed if she wasn't at camp but she didn't want to wake up her siblings. 

Annabeth glanced at the clock, which read  _ 3:00 am _ . She grumbled and laid back down, trying her best to get her hands to stop shaking and her breathing to settle down. She stared at the ceiling, longing for a sleep that wasn't coming. She was exhausted, scared, and just wanted Percy.

Annabeth had enough. If the only way she was going to get a decent night's sleep was with Percy, she was going to sleep with Percy. She got up, slid on her flip flops, and crept out of the cabin. It was a hot August night, probably over 100 degrees, but there was a gentle breeze that greeted Annabeth once she left her cabin. She quickly but quietly hurried over to Cabin 3. Her hand reached for the door, but she hesitated. Annabeth suddenly felt decently self conscious. She was wearing a tank top and shorts, it was a hot night after all. But wearing this to see her boyfriend? Hopefully he didn't get the wrong impression. Not to mention sneaking into Percy's cabin would be breaking hundreds of camp rules. If they were caught, she would probably never live it down.

Annabeth considered going back to her cabin, before she yawned. She was exhausted, and this was the only way she was going to get a decent sleep. She threw caution to the wind, and opened up his door, quietly slipping inside and closing the door behind herself. She walked over to where Percy was asleep. He had Riptide at his side, already transformed into a sword. His blankets were at the end of the bed, either because he kicked it from fright or from the heat. It was clear he wasn't having the best dream, his face was scrunched up.

Annabeth took a few steps back, making sure to be out of range before she spoke.

"Percy." She half whispered.

Immediately he sat up, grasped his sword and pointed it in her direction. Annabeth was surprised he woke up so easily.

"Oh, it's just you. Thank the gods!" Percy said, lowering his sword. "I can't handle an attack tonight. Or any night, really."

He recapped Riptide, making it turn back into a pen, and slid it into his pajama short pockets. 

Annabeth looked him over. Percy was wearing less clothes than she was, he was just in pajama shorts. He had dark eye bags under his eyes, she was shocked she noticed earlier. His hair was all messed up, like he spent a lot of the night tossing and turning. 

"You forgot a shirt." Annabeth teased.

"So did you." Percy said, raising an eyebrow. 

Annabeth rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She couldn’t help from chuckling slightly.

"You alright?" Percy asked.

"No." She sighed. "I can't sleep, I haven't been able to sleep. But I'm tired."

"Me too." Percy admitted.

"Can I stay here tonight?" Annabeth asked awkwardly, before quickly adding, "I can sleep on the floor."

"The floor?" Percy said, as if he hadn't heard her right.

"The floor." Annabeth nodded.

"Get in bed." Percy said, scooching over.

Annabeth smiled, slipped off her flip flops and joined him on his bed. She kissed him once, before lowering her head to a pillow. They laid, nose to nose.

"If you're hot, I can make the water splash you." Percy said.

Annabeth wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"I'm alright, thank you." She said, just in case he was serious.

"What was your dream about?" Percy asked.

Annabeth's smile faltered.

"Spiders." Annabeth finally said. "Pathetic, I know. We've been to t-"

"Don't say the name. Please." Percy interrupted.

“I wasn’t going to, I can’t handle it either.” Annabeth said, smiling sadly at him. "We've been to that place, seen things no one should see. But I'm still terrified of spiders. I dreamed I was back in Arachne's lair. She was stuck in my trap, but her children were coming. And they got to me, and swarmed. They were all over, some even got in my mouth. The worst part was it felt so real, I woke up feeling millions of spiders on me."

"It's not pathetic, not at all. All children of Athena are born with this fear, I'm pretty sure you'll always be afraid of them-" Percy said.

"Thanks." Annabeth grumbled.

"Wait, I'm not finished." Percy said, smiling slightly. "You fought them! You fought and vanquished Arachne. You faced your biggest fear, and kicked its ass. So you may be afraid, but you're stronger than your fear."

Annabeth pressed a kiss to his lips, and smiled at him gratefully. Right now, there was no doubt in her mind that coming in here was the right choice.

"Thank you." Annabeth said, softly.

"Any time, Wise Girl." Percy said, running a hand through her hair.

"It kind of sucks Arachne was so arrogant." Annabeth said, after a few moments of silence.

"And why's that?" Percy asked.

"Well, I was terrified by her. I hate her too. But her tapestries, they really were beautiful. Her arrogance is what got her turned into a spider." Annabeth said.

“And your mothers wrath.” Percy added.

“Be careful or you’re next.” Annabeth said.

“Eh, she already doesn’t like me.” Percy said, shrugging. "Did you have a favorite?"

Annabeth hummed and nodded.

"Was it a big building? Or a fancy Greek thing?" Percy asked.

"No, it was of two demigods kissing underwater." Annabeth said.

She only had to wait a second before Percy understood.

"She had one of us?" Percy asked, surprised.

Annabeth nodded.

"She said I was in her dreams. She had been waiting for me, seeing bits of my life." Annabeth said.

"Well, even though it's extremely creepy a stranger made a tapestry of us kissing, you can't really blame her." Percy said, grinning.

Annabeth cocked an eyebrow at her boyfriend.

"That was probably the best, coolest kiss in the history of the world. It's no wonder she got a vision of it." Percy said.

Annabeth rolled her eyes in amusement. Percy smiled and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. Annabeth moved closer to him, and yawned.

"We should try and sleep." Percy said, quietly. 

"And we'll figure out a new plan tomorrow." Annabeth said. "We have to get up early tomorrow, we can't get caught!"

"I wouldn't worry about that. We can barely sleep, I doubt we can oversleep." Percy said.

\---time skip to the next morning---

“PERSEUS JACKSON!” Chiron shouted. “ANNABETH CHASE!”

Their eyes flew open. Annabeth was resting on Percy’s chest. Percy had his arms around her. Their legs were tangled together.. 

“Good morning Chiron. Sleep well?” Percy asked, sitting up slowly. 

“You seem to have missed the morning, Percy.” Chiron said, frowning.

“Wait, what time is it?” Annabeth asked.

“Noon.” Chiron said, sounding irritated. “When you missed breakfast and didn’t turn up for lunch a few of us got worried.”

“9 hours!” Annabeth said, shocked.

“9 hours!” Percy repeated, grinning.

The two of them celebrated for a millisecond longer, before remembering the situation they were in. Percy grabbed his blanket and draped it over Annabeth, so her body was mostly covered.

“You two, explain yourselves before I call up your parents.” Chiron said.

“Would you believe me if I said nothing happened?” Percy asked, hopefully.

The intensity of Chiron's frown answered Percy’s question. He had always thought of Annabeth as a daughter of some sort, so finding her in this position was even more difficult than normal.

“Um, well we’ve been having some… issues? Well, one issue. We can’t sleep.” Percy said.

Chiron raised an eyebrow.

“What Percy means is that we can sleep, just not without each other.” Annabeth said.

“So you’ve been sneaking around here for weeks.” Chiron said, his voice raising slightly.

“No.” Percy said. “When the Romans were here, everyone was crammed together. So technically we didn’t sneak it.”

“It’s been a week since the Romans left, Perseus.” Chiron said.

Percy cringed at the use of his full name.

“We haven’t slept the past week.” Annabeth said. “And last night, I couldn’t take it. So I snuck in here.”

Chiron looked at the two of them.

“Our nightmares are about  _ it _ .” Percy said, scowling at the ground.

“Gaea?” Chiron asked. “Or Tartarus”

Percy and Annabeth both flinched slightly. Percy gripped Annabeth's hand tightly.

“Please don’t say the name.” Annabeth said.

Chiron’s look of anger slowly started to melt away.

“I can see it clearly. I see Bob, Tiny Bob and Damasen dying as we escape. I see myself doing things I wish I could forget. I can feel myself dying of gogins blood again. And sometimes my memories are twisted. And I can see and hear Annabeth dying. Sometimes, usually actually, I’m the reason why.” Percy said, before trailing off.

“Mine aren’t much different. It feels so real, like I’m stuck down there again. Or falling down again. Or with Arachne and her children.” Annabeth said. “And the nightmares aren’t going anywhere. But when he’s next to me, there's another part of my head reminding me that we got out, that we’re together and that we’re alive.”

“We’ve been trying to get this under control. This week we really tried.” Percy said, sounding defeated. “We were going to make a new plan today, we just needed one decent sleep.”

There was silence for a few moments. Chiron now looked saddened, not angry. 

“It sounds like you guys have PTSD and maybe some survivors guilt.” Chiron eventually said.

“Is there a cure?” Percy asked.

“No.” Annabeth said, softly.

“But there’s treatment. Therapy would be a good start.” Chiron said.

“My mom can’t afford therapy. And I’m not going to make Paul waste his money on a kid that’s not even his.” Percy said, softly. “I don’t suppose you have any free options?”

“Will, from Apollo cabin, is well trained in this area. He’s the best healer here. You can meet with him, together of course, once or twice a week. We can keep it up for the rest of camp. And during the school year, he’s a full time camper. I’m sure he’d love weekend trips to the city.” Chiron said, before continuing on, “You two clearly need to be close. I can iris message your parents. If they’re fine with it, I’ll allow Annabeth to stay in here during the night.” 

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other, like they hadn’t heard him properly, then stared at Chiron.

“Really?” Percy asked.

“Yes. I’ll call them today, and make sure to explain the full story.” Chiron said. “I’d like to mention though, if you are caught doing anything other than sleeping, consequences will be worse than you can imagine.”

“Thank you, Chiron.” Annabeth said.

“So much.” Percy added, smiling gratefully..

He smiled at the two young demigods. 

Both parents were convinced, only after speaking to their children, and seeing them. The scars that littered their bodies, and the dark bags under their eyes showed that they needed each other, now more than ever.

The nightmares got a little better. They weren't gone, but together, Percy and Annabeth could get through anything.


	3. Home (New York)

The day Percy Jackson came home was probably the best day of Sally Jackson’s life. Her son had been missing for so long. She then learned he was on another deadly quest, one that he may not return from. Percy had left a message, promising he’d come home. A promise she wasn’t sure he would be able to keep. But Percy always kept his promises.

When he finally did come home, it took awhile for Sally to stop crying. Paul and Percy had to help her to the couch. Annabeth, who had come with Percy, went to go get her a glass of water. 

“You are never going on another year-long quest again.” Sally said, her voice shaky.

“I hope so.” Percy said, wiping away her tears.

Once Sally had really calmed down, Percy left her side to close and lock all the windows. Both Paul and Sally found that a little strange, but didn’t question it.

“Doors locked?” He asked Annabeth.

“Triple checked.” She said, nodding. 

“Percy, is everything ok? Are you still in danger?” Paul asked.

“Everything’s fine. Rather be safe than sorry though.” Percy said, shrugging. 

He and Annabeth sat down on the couch across from Paul and Sally. The two adults looked over the kids. Their faces were littered with new tiny scars. Who knows how many more they had hiding away under their layers of clothing. Percy’s hair was longer. His eyes were the same vibrant sea green, but they were tired. Annabeth’s gray eyes were slightly stormier than usual. 

“Can you tell me what happened?” Sally asked.

Percy nodded. He started to tell his story. He talked about waking up with no memories, except for a vague one of Annabeth. He talked about his time and quest at Camp Jupiter. He also talked about his new friends, Frank and Hazel. He then started to talk about the quest to save the world. Annabeth talked about their other friends, Jason, Piper and Leo. She explained the specifics of the quest, and their trip to Rome. She did a quick brief over her individual quest. Percy told them about defeating the twin giants, then being told to go get Annabeth. 

“The place was coming apart. Things were falling, I couldn’t really walk, and we needed to get back to the ship before we all fell.” Annabeth said.

“Frank flew Leo up to stabilize the ship, since he’s the only one who could work it. Jason flew Piper up, and started to make sure the statue was secure.” Percy said.

“And what did the statue do again?” Paul asked.

“If we lost that statue, we would’ve been at war with the Romans. It restored the balance between us.” Annabeth explained.

“Nico, Hazel, Annabeth and I started to make our way to the ship. But neither of us noticed…” He trailed off, putting his head in his hands.

“We didn't notice that my bad leg was wrapped up in webs. We all just assumed they were stray webs but they weren't.” Annabeth said, blinking furiously to stop any tears. “Before we knew it, I was being pulled towards the edge. Arache wanted me down with her.”

“I almost didn’t catch her.” Percy said, his voice breaking. “And I couldn’t get to my sword without dropping her.”

“So together, we fell. For 9 days.” Annabeth said, gasing at the ground. 

“We told our friends we’d meet them at the other side.” Percy said. “I was pretty sure we were going to die, though.”

Annabeth tried to tell them about Tartarus. It was hard for her to talk about, she quickly started to get choked up. Percy tried to take over from there, but the same thing happened to him.

“I’m going to skip ahead. Just know it was hell.” Percy said, quickly wiping his eyes.

Neither Sally nor Paul protested. The few things they had just heard about Tartarus chilled them to the bone. 

They talked about going to Greece, fighting the giants with the gods, but ultimately still allowing Gaea to rise. They then talked about getting back to Camp Half Blood with the help of Zeus, and the final battle. They talked about the Romans and Greeks fighting together, while Piper, Jason and Leo went after Gaea. They talked about Leo’s ultimate sacrifice. 

“So Leo, he’s… gone?” Sally asked.

“No.” Percy said, smiling. “He had this potion or something, I don’t really understand. But he’s back.”

“Oh thank god!” Sally said, smiling. 

“We spent the past few weeks rebuilding, helping the younger kids, stuff like that.” Percy said. “Annabeth and I were also put in therapy.”

“Will, a camper, has been helping us. And once a week he’ll be coming up to New York. We said we’ll meet him anywhere he wants.” Annabeth said. “And weeks he can’t come, we’ll just iris message.”

Sally and Paul had some questions, but didn’t ask. It was clear Annabeth and Percy had enough quest talk for a while. 

“So Annabeth, are you excited for school? I’ve heard great things about your teachers this year!” Paul asked, changing the subject.

They both smiled at him gratefully. 

Sally, Paul, Annabeth and Percy spent the rest of the day getting reacquainted. They had pizza for dinner, Percy’s favorite of course. After, Paul and Sally also put on a movie for the four of them, Hercules. They figured a silly movie about the gods would make the two demigods feel better. 

“Hercules is an asshole.” Percy said, as the movie started.

“Perseus! Language!” Sally scolded, but smiled.

“He abandoned our friend Zoë after getting what he wanted. He got her exiled from her family. And he was an ass in the Mediteranian.” Percy said.

“Hercules is a loser.” Annabeth said, nodding.

“The guy may suck, but the soundtrack of this movie is amazing.” Paul said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. 

“Ha! Look at dad, he looks like a fish!” Percy laughed.

“Mom’s a little too purple.” Annabeth said, grinning. 

Paul and Sally smiled at them, then each other. It was nice seeing the kids with a sparkle in their eyes.

After the movie, it was pretty late, so it was time for bed. 

“I’m going to sleep on the couch, Annabeth will be in my room.” Percy said.

“Leave the door open fully, and you can share your room.” Sally said.

“What?” Percy said, surprised.

“I agreed to it for camp, didn’t I?” Sally said. “And after hearing everything… just keep the door open.”

Percy nodded.

“Goodnight my love, if you need anything wake me up, ok?” Sally said, hugging him.

“Ok.” Percy said, kissing her cheek. “Goodnight Mom. I love you.”

Sally retreated to her room, where Paul was already inside. She shut the door gently and got in bed. Paul slid into bed, kissed her goodnight, and shut off the lights. Sally’s heart was full, her family was back together. 

Sally’s peaceful sleep didn’t last long. Around 2:45, she woke up to some noise coming from Percy’s room. Paul heard it too, his eyes were open. She listened, but didn’t hear anything else.

“Should we check on them?” Paul asked.

Sally nodded slowly. She wouldn’t be able to sleep unless she knew they were ok. She also remembered that two teenagers were sharing a room. They had her complete trust, but she’d rather be safe than sorry.

Paul and her got out of bed, slipped on their slippers and crept over to Percy’s door. It was opened, just like they had agreed. The two kids were awake though, both sitting up. Annabeth’s back was facing the door. She was clinging onto Percy’s shirt, while sobbing. He was rubbing her back softly, listening to what she was saying.

“I’m here though, aren’t I?” Percy asked softly.

“I keep seeing you dying of gorgon's blood. You were so bloody, barely breathing, and d-dying.” Annabeth said, looking up into his eyes. “I really thought you were g-gone.”

She let out another sob, so he wrapped his arms around her.

“We’re alive. We’re out. We survived.” Percy murmured.

“We’re alive. We’re out. We survived.” Annabeth repeated slowly.

“We’re together.” Percy said.

“We’re together.” Annabeth said.

“We’re going to be alright.” Percy said.

“We’re going to be a-alright.” Annabeth said, her voice shaking.

“I promise you Annabeth, we’re going to be alright.” Percy said.

Annabeth continued to cry, Percy continued to console her. He murmured words of encouragement, tried to make her smile, kissed her, and just held her. 

Paul and Sally looked at each other, before slowly retreating back to their room. 

No one should be as traumatized as they were, especially at their age. But Percy and Annabeth were strong kids. Together, they're going to be alright. Percy never broke his promises. 


End file.
